Providing know-how to local governments
to engage citizens on the issues they care about
What we do
We work with municipalities/cities to adapt their work to the citizens’ needs. To achieve this, we create a systemic intervention and train public officials to implement efficient measures and transparency in public administration.
Our major activities
We help local authorities to develop key policy programs and strategies and implement measures to ensure transparency while engaging their citizens.
Through Ozone Project, IREI will implement the following activities:
Training programÂ
Aligned with the new policy programme and communication strategy, Ozone will design and implement a two-day training programme on communication, transparent work and efficiency oriented towards citizens’ needs. Participants in this training will be up to 10 key municipal officials (about 3 in the mayor’s office including public relations officers) and department heads from relevant sectors. The training will enable municipal officials to identify shortcomings, measures and practices that will help them eliminate it and achieve efficient and responsible work with citizens. This will be followed by another training in 2022 that will strengthen the skills for analysis, monitoring and reporting on the implemented measures. The purpose of this training is to achieve more responsible and open communication of municipal staff with citizens.
Whisper Mentoring
In addition to the training programme, Ozone experts and staff will continue to work with municipal staff by providing ad hoc support in response to a request from municipal officials. This will be done through a whisper mentoring method by experts with extensive and direct governance experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ozone will also allow for mutual exchanges of experiences and consultation by meeting the mayor once a quarter to facilitate mutual learning.
New Policy Programme
A group of Ozone project experts works with mayors to create a new policy programme based on the needs analysis of each municipality. The programme will be aligned with the multi-year development strategy of each municipality. It will contain a concrete two-year plan of activities and priorities with specific measures in order for municipal staff to achieve optimal results.
Communications strategy aligned to citizens needs
Based on the assessment of previous communication mechanisms, the activities of each municipality and its reach, a group of Ozone experts will work with municipal staff to revitalise communication with citizens. To do this, we will help them create a communication strategy that will include the day-to-day concerns of citizens as part of the municipality’s responsibilities. For the better reach of all citizens, the communication strategy will also propose digital channels for more direct access to citizens, in addition to newspapers and TV, which are still the most common source of information for citizens who use digital platforms less. Equally important, Ozone will organize communication training for citizen-friendly municipal staff.
